On 20 September 2025 in Kashgar, Xinjiang, President Asif Ali Zardari visited Kashgar University and was received by Mr Ding Bangwen, Party Secretary of the university, alongside faculty and students. Mr Yao Ning, CPC Party Secretary of Kashgar, joined the welcome and senior Pakistani and Chinese envoys accompanied the President during the campus tour.
The delegation was briefed on Kashgar University’s development since its founding in 1962 and its elevation to full university status in 2015. The institution now operates across three campuses with more than 40,000 students and faculty members, including several hundred international students, and is projected to grow toward a student and staff strength approaching 50,000 in the coming years.
President Zardari praised Kashgar University for its wide-ranging academic portfolio spanning science, engineering, technology, agriculture, social sciences, arts, culture, music and dance. He noted the university’s strategic position as the closest major Chinese university to Pakistan and its function as an important bridge for academic and cultural exchange between the two countries.
Underlining the Pakistan-China Strategic Cooperative Partnership, the President stressed the need to invest in youth and education to cement long-term ties. He highlighted the role of the Centre for the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) at Kashgar University in fostering research and collaboration linked to the Belt and Road Initiative and bilateral projects.
Engaging directly with students and faculty, President Zardari encouraged deeper academic and cultural linkages. In meetings with Pakistani students from Gilgit, Hunza, Dir and Chitral he inquired about their studies and living conditions; the students reported that tuition and accommodation are fully funded by the Chinese government and that stipends cover food and other needs. The President urged the students to work hard and play a leading role in strengthening Pakistan-China friendship.
The visit included Senator Saleem Mandviwalla, Sindh Minister Syed Nasir Hussain Shah, the Pakistani Ambassador to China and the Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan, and provided an opportunity for university leaders and Pakistani officials to discuss further cooperation. The engagement at Kashgar University underlined a shared emphasis on education and people-to-people ties as pillars of the bilateral relationship.
